Happy "Adjusted" Birthday Babies

Tomorrow is the babies "adjusted" 1 yr old birthday. It feels like we celebrated it so long ago. I guess 2 months is a long time. I know the first 2 months in the hospital also felt like an eternity. There was so many ups and downs, and scary days in the beginning. Now, we are doing really good. Alex, just got over his cold that turned into pneumonia. He did have some rough days through that, but has proved that he is strong time again. It is the hardest thing in the world to watch your baby hurting and sick. I took him to the doctor the first time, and got the standard, "it's viral" thing and just to watch it. The second time they both had ear infections, at least we got antibiotics. The third time, a ER visit, and x-ray showed pneumonia, changed antibiotics. 3 days later, still no better, trip back to ped and got a breathing treatment and sent home with an inhaler (which he hates), but it did the trick. The ped questions whether this was a pneumonia or something called reactive airway disease, which is similar to asthma. You can't diagnosis asthma in kids this young so they call it the other. He said it would look the same on x-ray, and the breathing treatments were the trick to recovery, not antibiotics. The cold could have been the trigger for his lungs to fill with so much fluid and constrict so much. He definatley was a new little boy after the breathing treatment. It was like he had relief, and could breathe better. He said we just have to see if it reoccurs and treat aggressively. If it is reactive airway disease, he could outgrow or maybe develop asthma. Just wait and see. But, thank you so much to those of you who cared so much and called to check on him.

Lilly and Julian are doing good. Lilly (knock on wood) is eating great, for the moment. Alex has actually slept through the night a couple of times.

Julian is winding down with his first year of school. Can't believe I almost have a 1st grader. Time just flies by.

mother's day

I feel like I start every blog off with "where do I begin". I guess the life as a mother of 3 is going to feel like this all the time. Since the last blog, Chris and I have been enjoying Julian's baseball games and we've been spending more family time together which is so nice. The babies, especially Alex, had a cold for a couple weeks prior to mother's day. I had taken them a couple times to the pediatrician. Peds are getting sooooo conservative in their treatment now, which is hard for me because I am sooooo a fix it kind of mother, and nurse. I've been very worried about this cold because it has seemed to settle in Alex's lungs, which I don't know how they will respond to this due to him being so sick at birth. Why doctors won't prescribe a decongestant, I have no idea, and will likely bring that up at tomorrow's follow up visit. It's so hard to watch your little babies, have a hard time breathing, hurt so bad with a cough and you can't do anything for them. They just recommend "supportive measures" for colds now. Well, humidifiers, and saline spray doesn't do anything to make them feel better.

We made it to mother's day, with good days and very bad days, but was hoping this was going to be a great day. Chris was so sweet and surprised me with a day at the spa that included a limo ride there and home, so I didn't even have to drive. He was going to brave the day with the kids alone. I was so happy that he did this for me. It was so thoughtful, and he really wanted me to have a special and relaxing day. It was great. I got pampered with a facial and a long massage. It was just what I needed. The day was going good for me, but I could hear Alex on the phone coughing so bad, and he was really having a rough day. He would have coughing fits that lasted so long and he was starting to gag and throw up with them. So as soon as I got out of the limo when I returned home, I scooped Alex up and we were off to the emergency room. We got there and thank goodness there was no wait, and they took us right back. The doctor was really nice. Alex's lungs sounded pretty good for how bad he was coughing, but the doctor ordered a chest X-ray because of his history of premature birth and severe respiratory distress and pneumonia at birth. Well, the x-ray showed he had a right lower lobe pneumonia. Just what I was hoping to prevent, and what I had worried about. They changed his antibiotic and sent us on our way. Well, 3 days later, cough had not improved at all, and I was off to the doctor again. Mom had come down to help me and see Julian play his baseball game monday night, and she also got to go with us to Julian's music concert at school Tuesday. Julian was thrilled that she came to see him do these things, which was really a neat treat for him. I love it when Julian feels special. It made him feel really good that Dee Dee came to see him and he got some good one on one time with her. It was also nice to have another nurse's opinion about Alex, and she agreed that he needed to go back to the doctor.

Thank goodness the doctor was nice and acted appropriate, because I was ready to attack. I was ready for someone to make my baby feel better. She gave him a breathing treatment in the office and sent us home with an inhaler. It has really started to help and give him so much needed relief. He is starting to show some energy and interst in playing again. I am so happy, it doesn't appear that he is hurting so bad now. I am just shocked that it took so long for this to happen.

It didn't end up being the best mother's day, but it was great because my husband tried so hard to give me a special day. Mother's day is always a time where we are thankful for our mothers, which I truly am. I wouldn't know what to do without mine and Chris's mom. But for me, it is a day that I am thankful that I was lucky enough to become a mother of my 3 beautiful children. I am the lucky one and truly have been blessed beyond belief. Motherhood did not come easy for Chris and I. It is something that I dreamed for and prayed for and we had to work really hard for this to happen to us. I could not imagine my life without the opportunity to be a mother, and I could not have asked for anything better in my life. So, I look at mother's day as a gift for me in itself that I was blessed with the responsibility to take care of Julian, Alex and Lilly. They are and will always be my mother's day gift.

Busy week

It's been a very busy, long week. We did end this crazy week with a great day today. The week seems to fly by now. We are busy with Julian, and getting him to school, speech appts, baseball practices, and the babies schedule in between. I look forward to 9 pm when I can finally take a moment and sit down. This week also the babies got a cold which made the days a little longer. There just wasn't enough mommy to go around to make everyone happy. I ended up taking the babies to the doctor Friday afternoon. You hate to go into the weekend with sick kids, and not know if things are going to get better or worse. Luckily, it was "just viral", and nothing to specifically treat by the doctor. That's good and bad. Good that they weren't bad sick, but if they had found something you can treat it and it gets better faster. With the viral stuff, you never know how long that may linger. Peds are so cautious now about treating kids too, and I like to have a "quick fix". I knew when I took them that that would probably be the outcome, but you never know and would rather be safe than sorry. I also thought this could have been some teething stuff. Alex cut another tooth on the bottom and always gets the runny nose with it. I just really worry about him when he gets sick. His runny nose seemed to settle in his chest and he had a pretty bad cough. HIs little preemie lungs don't handle things like that very well. But, today he seems a little better. Lilly ran her first fever, and haven't really figured out why. I was hoping she was teething too, but so far no more new teeth. Just hoping they are better so we have a good week.

Julian is doing really good with baseball. He is so fun to get to go watch. His first game is this week, and Chris and I are really looking forward to it. We've had nice weather this weekend, so Julian has loved being able to get out.

We also got a sidewalk finally put in this week. Our house is slowly starting to look like a home.

Today, we all participated in the March for babies walk. We couldn't believe how many people were there. It was such a wonderful feeling to see people so many people out there but also heartbreaking because everyone there had a "story" as to why this was such an important cause to them. It definately hit home for us. We are so blessed that Alex and Lilly are here #1, because that was our first hurdle, and #2, that they have done so well considering their very early arrival and complications following delivery. I am truly a blessed mother to have 3 beautiful children.

It's hard to believe they came out at the same time, they look totally different. As much as she is small, he is big.

Alex thought it would be fun to play on the dishwasher.

updates

Lilly saw something on alex's try she wanted, so she just climbs out and gets it.
Julian's bubble bath. they were about 4 ft tall of bubbles.
Time management at it's best

Lilly had another f/u with the ped GI doctor last Friday. It went pretty well. She weighed 17 lb 8.8 oz and the doctor was pretty impressed with weight gain since last visit. She gained 12 gm/day since the last time we were there. Normal weight gain after 1 yr old is only 5-8 gm/day so she did better than expected, which is good because we still have some weight to catch up since we started about 3 lbs less that a normal full term baby. It is also pretty impressive considering our trip to Atlanta she didn't gain a single oz that week, and we also switched from formula to regular milk, which went from 26 cal/oz to only 20 cal/oz. The only concern is that since she's not on formula anymore, which in itself is completely nutrious, we have to worry about whether her eating is getting her all the other vital essentials to grow. I would have to say the past couple of days have been really good. She has had hot dog, strawberries, chicken, french fries, avacodo, pasta, green beens, and carrots, mac and cheese, and cereal. I would have to say I definately get points in heaven for trying to feed my children. I have spent so much money at the grocery store trying to find things that she may like to eat. It's never ending.

Alex is continuing to grow and eat really well. We have slipped back a little with the sleeping. He had gotten to once a night, but now we are back to twice a night getting up. He has even a couple nights, just wanted to be held, so I have slept with him in the guest room a little. We have tried really hard not to, but with 2 babies, I needed a little sleep. He also is doing really good walking. He CAN walk by himself, but is still unsure of himself. Once he figures out that he's really doing it, he will take off.

Julian is doing great. We've started t-ball, and he's enjoying it. We're just waiting for the weather to cooperate so we can get outside more with him. We watched a dinosaur movie Saturday for our "movie Night" and he was the narrator for the whole thing. He knows an incredible amount about dinosaurs, and talked the entire time, telling us who they were and what they were doing. It made us laugh. It amazes us how smart he is. I can't wait to see what he becomes one day. (Although, I am totally not ready for him to grow up)

This is Lilly during feeding time. She likes to stand up and eat. I know you say just buckle her in, but she absolutely hates to be confined and it makes the eating process much worse. (Don't judge until you try to feed her)

Play day

This weekend we got a new activity for the babies to play in. Hopefully the weather will stay nice here, because they certainly prefer to be outside. We got a sand box and hopefully they will love the sand because this summer is going to be spent at the beach. They were a little unsure at first what I was putting them into, but I think they enjoyed it. Lilly had her curious look on her face, and of course my non-eater tried out the taste of the sand. Funny, she will try to eat that but give her real food and she's much more careful. Julian played on the swing set and we got him some baseball bases so we could play in the back yard. T- ball started monday night and I had a ball watching him. He was having a good time and trying so hard to learn what to do. It made me remember me trying to learn to play softball when I was his age. I love how my happiness is watching my children have fun. I really hope he enjoys it and wants to continue playing. I am partial to baseball than other sports, so I would have a lot of fun watching him continue to play.

Julian being sweet and giving Alex a push.

They are playing nice for a little while.

Yes, Julian runs just like his mommy. Poor baby.

Trip to Georgia

We had a wonderful trip to GA this past week. It was Julian's spring break and a much needed getaway. We decided to brave a plane trip with the babies for the first time. It's so funny that Julian had probably flown 4 times by the time he was one, but with twins it is a whole different story. After a terrible rainy day and plane delays, we finally made it to Atlanta at 10 pm. Babies and Julian were exhausted by the time we got to the Stanford's but we made it. We had a wonderful week full of activities. We went to see my grandmother's which had not seen the babies yet, and they were thrilled. They said they finally believe the babies are "real" now. Julian got to go to Fern Bank to see the dinasaur exhibits, Chris and I took him to the aquarium with Jess and Patrick. He had so much fun, it was nice being able to spend some time with him.

Then we had our big party on Saturday to introduce the babies to all of our extended family and friends. It was a wonderful day. The weather couldn't have been more beautiful. We rented a inflatable bouncy for Julian and all the kids to play in. I think Julian was in it the majority of the day playing with different kids that had come to the party. We had a huge turnout and it was so much fun getting to catch up and spend time with everyone. I wish the day could have gone on forever. We celebrated the babies 1st birthday with their own birthday cakes. That is always fun to watch the babies dig in and see what they do. Of course, Alex, had his torn apart in no time, and even Lilly caught on and ate a little.

The trip home made us really miss being in the South again. We do really consider that to be our home, and would move back in a heartbeat. we just have the job thing holding us back. But it did make us a little homesick to come back to PA.

check-ups

Well, I was very brave today. 3 kids check-ups at the same time. I did make Chris go with me because everyone needed vaccines today and that would be a lot of tears and needed another pair of hands to comfort with. Everyone did really great. It's easier to take the babies than to tell Julian he needed to have a shot today. Of course I did some bribing. It seems to work well for us.

The babies are doing great. It's nice to have a pediatrician tell you that. I think they look good, but someone that sees babies all day to tell you how well they are doing makes you feel much better, especially when you have the start in life they did. Lilly weighs 16 lbs 12 oz, of course she's not on the curve for a full term baby, but when you adjust her age for her prematurity she is about 10-15 percentile. That's great for my 2 lb baby, and Julian was always small for awhile. And when she was born, she was actually the size of a 28 wk baby. So if she was adjusted for by 12 weeks, she would be even higher on the curve.

Alex, weighed 21 lb, 12 oz. This put him on the curve in the 5oth percentile for a full term baby and about75th for a preterm baby. He is so opposite of Lilly. He eats anything I put in his mouth. He is almost 2 lbs bigger than Julian at a year, and he started 2 lb smaller than Julian.

Developmentally- they are doing fantastic. Dr. York (our ped) was impressed by how well they were doing and said they have pretty much caught up to full term babies. The only thing they aren't doing yet is walking (Alex is getting close) and they only say mama and dada.

Julian is also doing great. That was the first time they have seen him because he is really never sick and in need to go to a doctor. My kids have really been luck. I think Julian has only been on 3 antibiotics his entire life. I think staying home with them has really helped in that area. He passed his hearing (so i know he hears me know), and vision, and got his hep A vaccine. I think Chris had a harder time with Julian getting his shots than he did.

But they are doing great, just have to keep forging ahead. I just have to look at pictures of where the babies started out every once in awhile to know how far they've come.